Tobarra
by Simwise
Summary: Fictionalised game log of the first session of a 4e D&D game I have started running. Three PCs, A Warder, a Druid and an Assassin going to a large island to seek their fortunes.
1. Chapter 1

Many of the gamers that I've met are, like myself, frustrated authors. We often see our games as something that might appear in a novel, or at least in writing. Thus I'm starting up this campaign log for the D&D game that I just started with some friends. It's 4e, set in a generic D&D world of my own creation. Read and (hopefully) enjoy.

On the docks of the warm, northern city of Harada, the night is deep and dark with the lights of the city to one's back and little to light ones path. Despite this, three unique individuals head toward a small, two-masted schooner at the end of one of the piers.

Despite the fact that it is well before dawn, the docks, and even the vessel they head for, are hives of activity. The tide will soon turn which is the best time for vessels to leave the busy harbour.

The first to approach is Toran, more beast than man, and he moves like it. When he isn't climbing over crates or leaping over and between obstacles, he uses them as cover, as if from unseen assailants. He is unused to cities and sees everyone in the crowd as a prospective threat.

At a more leisurely pace comes Xanthia. Of a similar Human-Beast fusion as Toran, Xanthia is more knowledgeable and cerebral. He knows something of cities and while he despises the throng of Humanity and other races that gather like a swarm, he knows well that they are mostly less dangerous than he is.

The final man, a little way behind, blends into the background without even trying. Part of it is the long, black cloak that he wears but, while his bearing suggests that he has not a care in the world, his steps are quiet and something causes people's eyes to simply slip past him unnoticed. Meanwhile, Kaelin notices everything as he goes past.

Toran is crouched behind several barrels and waiting for Xanthia to catch up to him when he looks up and notices yet another strange sight. Normally, he would regard it as something truly extraordinary but he has seen so much in this city recently that he is somewhat immune to being surprised.

A glowing, transparent disc, carrying an overlarge Dwarf, travels at a stately pace above and continues on to the ship that they travel toward. He peers over the barrels and sees as the dwarf lands and the disc shrinks allowing him to stand on the deck while it continues to carry his cargo.

The Halfling Captain, which Toran met yesterday to book passage, greets the Dwarf with a wave and sends a member of his crew to him. The crewmember, a slim, attractive Tiefling seems a little uncertain but the gruff Dwarf doesn't seem to notice and immediately starts speaking and moving to the back of the ship.

"No, no, don't worry about it, I'll be fine. Now, lock the door after me and don't open it up for anything. Whatever I do, whatever I say, don't open it until we get there. Understand? I don't care if the ship is on fire, don't open this door, for all that you hold holy, until I get there."

With that, the Dwarf slams the door, his cargo on the disc having followed him in, "all right, now lock it!"

"But what about your meals?" The Tiefling said with obvious concern.

"I've got all I need here – now lock it and don't open this door until we are in sight of Griffinport!"

Seeing Xanthia approaching, the Tiefling quickly locks the door and goes to meet the new passengers. Toran moves quickly to leap from the dock to the deck and protectively stands in front of the elder beastman looking around.

"Oh, uh, you're the other passengers, yes?" The Tiefling remarks in surprise.

Xanthia manages to move around his protector and nods.

"Ah, good, well I'll just . . . " she looks past the two and notices Kaelin standing on the deck at the end of the gangplank. "Oh, you're the last passenger?"

"I don't know about being 'the last' my good lady, but I am, indeed, a passenger." Kaelin says politely and then offers a small bow.

"Excellent." She smiles, obviously relishing at least one, normal seeming passenger. "If you'll please follow me then, we'll get you settled."

'If she only knew', Kaelin thinks hidden behind his civil mask.

As the passengers moved, they suddenly noticed a truly hideous stench waft over them. They looked around but could see no source. Kaelin put a handkerchief to his nose while Toran shook his head and snuffled in annoyance – his sense of smell was the keenest and thus he suffered the most.

"Here are your cabins", the Tiefling said as she reached the back of the ship. "There are three left so you don't need to share. Now, please stay inside until we get underway, it's the busiest time and the crew won't want you getting underfoot."

"Certainly my good lady," Kaelin said from behind the handkerchief, "but please tell me, what is that horrible smell?"

"Oh, that's the cargo." She said with disdain, "Sadly one gets used to it after a while. Now, . . . ." There was a sudden shout from the Halfling Captain and the Tiefling turned. "I'm sorry, I have to go now. Please make yourselves comfortable."

Kaelin picked a cabin close to the main deck while Xanthia picked one of the slightly larger ones at the very back of the small ship. As he entered, Tolan moved in behind him and quickly shut the door.

Xanthia sighed and spoke in their own language, "you know, you don't have to share a room with me. You paid for a cabin of. . . " He gave up recognising Toran's fixed and stubborn expression. "Very well, but I'm getting the cot."

"I'll sleep near the door." Toran replied evenly. He then opened the door a crack and looked out.

"What are you doing?" Xanthia asked.

"I want to find out what this 'cargo' is that smells so bad."

"But we're supposed to . . ." Again, Xanthia gave up. He didn't know why he bothered. He never managed to get past Toran's stubbornness.

Toran was gone anyway. He darted with all of his speed across the deck to the large, open cargo hatch. In a fluid movement, he leapt in and grabbed the edge with his hands and hung in the darkness of the hold.

Despite the smell assaulting him and causing his eyes to tear, he managed to make out several large, humanoid shapes laying at the bottom of the cargo hold. He managed to see some movement and noticed heavy chains holding them down.

As he hung there, a Dwarf, this one female, moved toward the grate which now served as a ladder to the deck. She spotted the beastman hanging by his long arms, grabbed a heavy, warhammer at her hip and shouted, "what in the nine hells are you doing here ye' bucket of filth?"

Toran moved, athletically swinging himself up and racing back toward his cabin. The Dwarf continued to spew obscenities at him, many of them both creative and in Dwarven.

None noticed Kaelin standing quietly in a small space of the deck watching the scene.

The ship, named the Blessed Benetabra, left the busy port a little later. The noise quieted and things seemed to calm down, except for a single loud shout from the locked Dwarf's cabin as the ship set off.

After a time, Toran again carefully set off out of the cabin but this time he leapt up into the rigging as soon as possible to avoid the crew. He climbed with great agility and thought he was alone until he heard a Human voice.

"Hello there," said the thickly accented voice, "come on back here."

Toran saw a slightly built man in the rigging near the rear of the vessel. Swinging to quickly join him, the man gestured from his perch back toward the lights of the port city. "Beautiful is it not?"

"The buildings get in the way."

The man turned toward him, "you do not like cities do you?"

Toran's only response was to grunt.

Extending a hand, the Human said, "I am called Tashir and you are?"

"Toran." The beastial man said and examined the hand curiously. Eventually Tashir smiled and gave up, turning once again to regard the dwindling lights that at least he regarded as beautiful.

"What's with the people in the cargo hold?" Toran asked after a while.

Tashir was surprised by the question but didn't mind. "Orcish slaves. We sell them in Tobarra. Quite well paying according to the Captain."

Toran rewarded the man with another grunt and the two of them went back to regarding the view in silence.

About an hour after sunrise with the shore now completely out of sight with the exception of the tops of the Chomarr Mountains, the Tiefling came on deck from the galley and began serving breakfast.

Xanthia and Kaelin came on deck and even Toran came down to grab a bowl of the porridge. However, when no one was looking he managed to dump the contents over the side. He had his own food and didn't trust these people. He would see if it had an effect on any of the others before he would eat or drink anything else.

Xanthia provided ample distraction for Toran's act to go unnoticed. He emerged, dressed in skins with a goats skull codpiece which could not help but draw attention. Xanthia knew that it was useless to try to explain that the skull was that of the first creature he had ritually killed and that was positioned to access his Sacred Chakra. The skull was his totem, a base of power.

He moved to the extreme front of the ship, hoping to show that he wanted to be left alone. He knew that he had more in common with the fish that swam near this ship than any of the passengers or crew, with the exception of Toran.

Unfortunately, the Tiefling female didn't seem to understand this. She moved to him, probably in some foolish effort to be sociable. "Hello, I didn't get to introduce myself before. My name is Rona and I . . ."

As she had been saying these useless words, Xanthia calmly set down his bowl and allowed his true nature to show. The effect was dramatic, his limbs elongated, as did his head. His clothing disappeared to be replaced by thick fur, only his totem remained as he looked up at her, a shadowy, giant wolf.

She gasped and took a few steps back from him. Calmly, Xanthia bent his head to his bowl and began lapping at the contents. He had made it clear that he didn't really wish to interact with them.

"By Sehanine!" Kaelin observed mildly behind Rona. "I can't say as I've ever met someone that could scratch their ear with their back foot before."

After a pause, he extended his hand to the Tiefling. "I at least am happy to receive your introduction. I am Kaelin Tarana, adventurer at large."

"Rona," she said again and smiled at him. She hadn't realised the night before how handsome the man in the dark cloak had been. "So, what will you be doing in Tobarra?"

"Seeking my fortune, of course, good Rona. Whatever, adventurous deeds need to be done, I'll be there to do them." He replied with a broad smile.

The passengers, with the exception of the Dwarf, soon met the entire crew. The Captain was a vivacious, flamboyant Halfling known as Captain Riverwind. He seemed well matched and well pleased with Kaelin, quickly expressing that he was a "boon companion".

Captain Riverwind's cousin was the ship's navigator. Quite and dull as Riverwind was ostentatious, Nevin kept mostly to his charts and took the early shift as ships master.

The ships bosun was a giant, reptile like Dragonborn called Graa. Nearly as civilised as Toran, Graa's primary duty seemed to chivvy the three crewmembers into action. Something even his almost expressionless face managed to show that he relished in.

Poor Inis was the large, strong and somewhat slow thinking crewmember who bore the brunt of Graa's attentions. Agile Tashir worked in the rigging and managed to avoid Graa for the most part and Vendorin was the ship's carpenter and rope master. He was too skilled for Graa to push too hard.

The female Dwarf that Toran had seen was the cargo master. Keeping the slaves secure and alive were her duties and while it was clear that she despised the Orcs that she was in charge of, she would feed them and do what she could to keep them healthy. She was as foul as Rona was fair, often spitting, breaking wind, picking her nose and ears or making comments that managed to include some swearing at least three times per sentence. Her odour mimicked that of the cargo hold and that, plus her quick temper insured that most left her to herself.

Rona had the official position of Porter and was there to cater for the passenger's needs. Apparently Captain Riverwind thought that an attractive face would mean increased profits. This was only Rona's second trip with Blessed Benetabra and she found it increasingly difficult to deal with the idea of the Orc slaves. She had been victimised in the past and couldn't see how those Orcs were any more victims of their heritage than she was.

Over the next several days, Rona attempted to lose herself in Kaelin's arms. The other passengers had made it clear that they didn't require her assistance for anything, while Kaelin was charming, friendly and seemed to take her seriously. She was actually a little flattered for, while she knew that she was pretty, he was certainly better looking than almost anyone that she had ever met. He also had a bit of the cold detachment that many of the true adventurers had – or at least that she imagined that they had.

A routine quickly sprang up that during the day most of the passengers would come out on deck. Toran would climb into the rigging after breakfast and survey the ocean around, part of him looked like he was searching out some threat but at other times he would happily nap up there. After the third day he had decided that the food and drink wasn't tainted and was happy to partake.

Xanthia would head to the front of the ship, which he learned was called the prow. When any came too near he would once again release the aspect of the Shadow Wolf and passenger or crew would generally get the idea to be elsewhere. All except Kaelin, the tall Human seemed almost without fear and once even patted Xanthia's wolfish head – which took the Druid by surprise. He could have bitten the hand, probably biting the offending limb off, but he hardly wanted to start a fight. Reflecting on it, he realised that the man had 'called his bluff' but fortunately the rest continued to keep their distance.

Kaelin and Rona were almost constantly together. They would disappear, usually in the warm afternoons, into Kaelin's cabin where, it was reported, that he showed her many of the books he had packed. However, few, if any, believed this.

On the sixth evening of their voyage, all were sitting around the deck eating dinner when Selda, the cargo master, made one of her many rude comments about how foul the cargo was. Rona stood immediately and said, "how can you call yourself a civilized being. Slavery is an assault, an offence against the gods and the very nature of the world. It's evil."

Selda stared and then spat a gob of phlegm on the deck. "That's worth more than every Orc we have in the hold. I don't see you crying and waving your spoorna at it so leave off."

Rona went red and looked like she was about to leap on the Dwarf when the Captain quickly cut in. "Rona! Have you gone mad? Their Orcs, you know, Orcs that kill people, burn villages, steal and torture, that sort of thing."

"You have no proof that these Orcs have done anything wrong."

Selda looked like she was going to say something but Captain Riverwind silenced her with a glare. "Come now Rona. I can't see that these Orcs are any better than most. In fact, we're even doing them a favour."

She snorted but Riverwind continued, "yes, if it weren't for us, they would have been killed out of hand. Their bones would be littering some field now. Instead, because I have a market for them, the adventurers spared them and brought them to me and now I can offer them life. Not a good life maybe but at least they still live."

Rona was clearly not impressed. "In some cases, death is preferable."

Captain Riverwind took another tack, "no, I don't believe that and you're upsetting our guests. Kaelin, you seem the strong adventurer. You've probably killed an Orc or two in your time?"

Suddenly caught, Kaelin remained mute for a moment and then said, "I've never killed one that wasn't guilty of a crime."

"Well there you go," the Captain said taking this as assent. "So you've killed your share and I say that if you find any more, let them live so I can show them some mercy and make us both some money at the same time."

"That's not what I meant." Kaelin said in a dangerous tone, "these Orcs should have at least had a trial."

Selda nearly exploded. "A trial for Orcs! Hah! You might as well hold a trial for every fish you catch or fargin try to determine if your meal came from a gorram guilty cow or innocent!"

Rona drew herself up to her full height, looked at Selda and said in a deceptively quiet voice, "well perhaps the Orcs have all judged us as we have judged them." With that she turned and left.

After waiting until she was out of earshot, Kaelin looked at Captain Riverwind, "thanks a lot for setting me up." He then left to find Rona. Both Toran and Xanthia looked at each other and said as one, "Uka's", which was a derogatory term for so called 'civilized beings' with a tone suggesting that their ways were unknowable.

The next day seemed heavy with tension, even the weather reflected it with a heavy, humidity lasting through the morning only to be blown by a warm, wet, wind in the afternoon that just grew and grew. The crew secured everything on deck, changed course to steer into the wind and made sure that hand-holds were steady.

The most alarming noises came from the Dwarven passenger's cabin. Bumps and shouts were the least of it, there were crashes, sloshing noises, at least one scream and, for a little while late in the afternoon, some sort of deep, Dwarven singing which caused Selda to swear and move as far from the cabin as possible.

There was no dinner on deck that night since the ship was rocking too much to fire the oven safely. Instead, cold food and drink was distributed freely and the passengers warned to stay away from the edges of the deck as much as possible.

"Don't worry about this little squall." Captain Riverwind said in an attempt to lift spirits, "the Benetabra has weathered far worse than this in her time. In fact, I see this as a good shake out to make sure things are ship shape."

Despite his words, as evening fell and the winds continued to increase, the Captain brought four of the Orcs up from below to assist. The passengers retired to their cabins and tried to get what rest they could.

A loud yell and something that sounded like a lightning strike awakened them all sometime in the darkness, causing them to rush out on deck.

The first thing they saw in the light of wildly swinging lanterns was Graa lying on the deck in an expanding pool of blood, an obvious head wound above one eye. Three of the Orcs and two of the crew stood near him staring blankly. Near the wheel, both Captin Riverwind and Nevin struggled mightily to keep the ship steady.

Xanthia ran instantly to Graa's side and pointed to Inis. "Help me get him below!"

"But I'm supposed to . . ." The large man began, only to be cut off.

"Don't talk, just do." With that Xanthia picked up the Dragonborn's shoulders and, with some reluctance, the big man joined him. As they went, Xanthia said to Kaelin, "I'll take care of him, you get the rest of these men working."

"Alright men," the tall man said, "and Orcs, I guess. Get going, you should know what to do and . . . uh . . . you should do it."

The Orcs stared blankly, not understanding a single word he was saying. Vendorin, the only other Human there had picked up a belaying pin to use as a club and was too busy watching the Orcs warily to even notice Kaelin's words.

Fortunately, there was help at hand. Toran had climbed up to the wheel even before Xanthia started moving. "We need to keep it steady!" Captain Riverwind said to him, straining along with his cousin.

Towering above the Halflings, Toran studied the wheel for a moment and then took hold . . . and all motion stopped. Despite the water pushing against the rudder, or even the combined might of the two Halflings, Toran didn't let the wheel move so much as an inch.

After a second, both Riverwind and Nevin let go and gasped in relief. Toran, apparently without any effort at all, held the wheel as if it was incapable of moving. "So all I have to do is hold this still?" He asked.

"Yes." Panted Nevin as the Captain staggered down to the deck. Within moments, the Captain spoke a few phrases in Giant and the Orcs were moving. This then freed up Vendorin to go forward and check on the sea-anchor.

Kaelin suddenly stood alone on the deck. He moved back to the wheel where Nevin was watching Toran as he held the wheel in his strong grip. Despite the grim look the beast man gave him, Kaelin decided to see if he could help and also took the wheel. He did this for about half an hour until, in response from an instruction from Nevin, his hands got in the way of Toran's, and the beast man, for the first time lost his grip. He got it back quickly enough, but after that, Kaelin decided that he would keep his hands to himself and just joined the Halfling in observing.

He was thus in a prime position to observe two of the Orcs up in the rigging being flung out into the churning ocean as a large wave hit the ship at an odd angle. Rushing as fast as he could to the side in order to see what he could do to rescue them, he saw no sign. They sank below the waves once they hit the water and never resurfaced.

An hour or so later, the storm was all but over. Xanthia emerged with Graa, the Dragonborn's head bandaged and with a poultice of herbs found in the galley. The crisis averted, the passengers went back to their cabins.

The next day, Kaelin made much of his efforts at the wheel to Rona. "I don't want to brag, but I am certain that the ship would have been completely lost if it weren't for my efforts."

"I just feel for the two Orcs that drowned."

"Yes, they were the true heroes." He said sympathetically. He knew her moods now and had worked out how best to exploit them. "I did all I could to save them but they just vanished too quickly, and I had to hold the ship steady."

"I know you did." She said draping her arm across his chest. "I just wish things were different."

Once again the day seemed to reflect the mood of the passengers and crew; while the wind had died down, a deep grey overcast covered the sky from horizon to horizon. The surviving Orcs had been once again confined, the crew moved steadily, if somewhat wearily about their work and the passengers once again resumed their routine.

"Not much longer now." Tashir commented to Toran while they sat in the rigging. "I see some gulls this morning. That means we close to shore. Just a few days to get around to north side of island and, you are at port."

"Yes, I will be pleased."

Despite their fatigue, the passengers were once again awakened by a shout in the middle of the night.

"Their loose! To arms, the Orcs are loose!" Nevin's voice pierced the darkness and within moments the passengers, except for the Dwarf, began gathering weapons and armour.

It was pandemonium on deck by the time they emerged. Two Orcs were already on deck, their chains wrapped around their powerful fists to use as weapons. Next to them and wielding Selda's bloodied hammer, was Rona. She too was armoured and, as they watched, she took a swing at Graa who was moving toward her with his large club.

Kaelin moved first. He didn't want to harm Rona but he knew she had gone too far. While he had told her that he sympathised with the plight of the Orcs, he had little doubt that, even if she won against the crew, that the Orcs would soon be their masters.

Thus he called on his inner powers. He drew and pointed his small sword at one of the Orcs; as he did, his eyes and the blade of the sword turned as black as jet. A shadowy image leapt from the back of the Orc he pointed at and grabbed and twisted the neck. After an exceptionally loud crack, the Orc fell back into the hold.

Xanthia came forward and quickly drew a seed from a pouch on his hip. With a whispered muttering he threw it and it exploded against the side of the other visible Orcs head with a dazzling flame. The Orc had time to scream with its head on fire before it too fell back into the hold like a blazing torch.

However, the Orcs were desperate and two more quickly took their place. Rona, on her second swing managed to catch Graa in the stomach with the hammer and he doubled over in pain. However, the Captain, short sword in hand, rushed forward and she was forced to quickly move her legs to avoid several slashing blows.

Inis moved forward with a belaying pin and whacked one of the newly arrived Orcs smartly across the head, causing it to fall flopping to the deck.

Toran, initially unsure of what side, if any, of this conflict he should join made the decision based on Xanthia and, to a lesser extent, Kaelin. He threw a javelin which struck deep into Rona's thigh. With a shriek, she lost her balance and toppled into the hold as more Orcs climbed up.

Xanthia's second seed missed a climbing Orc and burst into flame inside the hold. Kaelin raised another shadow of a newly arrived Orc which died as readily as the first had.

Rona had the dubious blessing when she fell of landing on the blazing Orc. While this broke her fall she did get somewhat scorched in the ordeal and, quick to try to save the situation, once again climbed onto the deck.

She was nearly up when Toran's second javelin hit her in the shoulder and sent her down into the hold again. She looked around, there was fire, filth and the corpses of those she had wished to save; it was so like the hell that created her own Tiefling heritage that she let out a wail.

Looking up, she caught sight of Kaelin, his face with the jet black eyes looked alien and without the compassion she had hoped for. "How could . . ." She said as a shadow looped around her neck. It tightened like a noose and hauled her into the air. She couldn't speak or even breath! She was nearly at eye level with Kaelin when she died, her last thought was that of his terrible betrayal.

Only two of the Orcs survived to surrender and they were quickly secured so that everyone could hurry to put out the flames in the cargo hold. Unfortunately, most of it was out though before they had the chance. In two places, the flames had weakened the seams of the hull, water had come through and extinguished the flames.

"It's like I thought sir," Vendorin said climbing up from his inspection in the water below. "We're going to keep taking water. We can slow it with sailcloth but that won't stop it."

By morning the Blessed Benetabra was definitely lower in the water. While the rest of the crew looked nervous, Captain Riverwind again tried to lift spirits. "We're making for land and I for one am sure we'll get there. We'll probably even make Chassel."

"Where is this Chassel you speak of?" Toran asked.

"It's a small town on the south side of the island." The Captain explained, "fishing village or some such. Now I know that I promised to take you to Griffinport but that's on the north end and I'm afraid we just can't make that now. But I do here there is a road that runs through Hot Creek and on to Griffinport. It would definitely be quicker than waiting for the Benetabra to be repaired."

The ship came in sight of Chassel later in the morning and beached itself several hundred feet off shore. The gig was unhitched from its position and lowered into the water.

"Now, I have a couple of things for you." The Captain said as the three passengers prepared to depart. "First, is this letter. If you get to Hot Creek, look for a Halfling named Able Windward, he's an old friend of mine. Please deliver this to him if you could."

He held out the large, warhammer that they had last seen in Rona's hands. "Second, I'd like you to have this. Selda went on and on about the craftsmanship so it should be valuable. I can't thank you enough for your help and I think Selda would have wanted you to have it."

'I very much doubt that!' Kaelin thought to himself, 'my guess is that she would far prefer to be alive and keep the hammer for herself.' Selda's body had been found in the hold with its throat cut. The surviving Orcs corroborated that Rona had lured the Dwarven woman to the hold by saying that the Orcs were sick and then killed her.

"So I . . ." Captain Riverwind was interrupted by Vendorin bending and whispering in his ear. "Oh yes, I'd quite forgotten."

He produced a key and went to the fourth cabin door where the Dwarf had been. Opening it, he recoiled in horror. The room was completely destroyed, everything torn or broken and filth of all sorts clinging to most surfaces. Amidst the ruin lay the comatose form of the Dwarven passenger.

"Oh dear!" Riverwind exclaimed and turned to Toran. "Um, you couldn't fetch him out of there and bring him to shore could you."

With a grunt, the beast man did as asked. While foul, he knew he could clean off soon. The Dwarf's pack joined theirs in the boat as Inis and Vendorin rowed the passengers to shore. They could see in the distance some piers with several fishing vessels unloading the morning catch.

The crewmen dropped them a little way from the edge of the town. The group took their first steps on the island of Tobarra.


	2. Chapter 2

Game Master's Notes

I should have really included an introduction before the first post as a bit of background. I started working on Tobarra a while ago in hopes of addressing two of the problems I see with 4e D&D.

A lack of freedom. Traditional D&D games are designed by a DM who writes up what he thinks he wants the players to do and then runs them through it. This can be fairly linear at best and can result in blatant railroading at worst. I've tried to take inspiration from recent computer games in providing multiple 'quest givers' so that PCs have the choice of which quests they wish to follow and which to ignore.

Encouraging role play. 4e D&D has been roundly criticized for being a 'combat mechanic' at the expense of role playing. While I agree that the mechanics of the game focus more heavily on combat, I feel that the role play component doesn't require rules as much as it requires a good story teller. In previous editions and in other game systems, rules can make it easier for a DM to include role playing but it isn't essential. In Tobarra, I've tried to create an interesting setting where PCs have a number of decisions to make, based upon their character's values. This will hopefully also craft an interesting story.

The game session went reasonably well although 4e D&D isn't really designed for only 3 players. Still, there is a reasonable balance of roles and the players generally worked well together. I wish I had been better prepared but I tend to always wish that. Sadly, I don't think I'll be adequately prepared to run the game until after the last session. Hopefully though, after that I might be able to get it published – even if I have to do so myself.

I decided on a ship to start the game in order to bring the PCs to one place and provide them a reason for being/staying together. It's far better than saying, "you all meet in an inn." By having the first session on a ship, they pretty much have to associate with each other and if you throw in a way for them to struggle through something together it encourages camaraderie.

The adventure was generally in three parts. The first was the introduction where the PCs get to know each other and the crew. In encouraging role play, the PCs story is developed so that the players (and hopefully the readers here) at least care enough about the PCs to want to know what happens to them.

The players did pretty well here, each crafting distinctive personalities for their character. Interaction with the crew was somewhat more limited than I would have liked but Kaelan's player did well enough to keep things going. This also introduced the first moral dilemma in the game, the slavery of the Orcs.

The storm was a skill challenge which should have been better. It looked good on paper but it turned out that Xanthia and Toran virtually couldn't fail what they chose and Kaelan's player couldn't think of anything to do but assist Toran, which he didn't really need.

I was fairly proud of the final combat at the end. There was a choice to support Rona against the crew or the Captain against Rona and the Orcs. Solely a moral decision and, as Kaelan's player had romantically linked Kaelan with Rona I was surprised to say the least, when he immediately attacked one of the Orcs she had freed. It made for a good role playing situation. My only regret is that there was little real risk to the PCs in that fight and I should have made it a little tougher.

Anyway, the next session should be fairly soon and I'll write that up when I can.


	3. Chapter 3

Game Log 2

During the trip to shore, all in the boat, with the exception of Toran, kept eyeing the Dwarf.

"I think he's about to . . ." Kaelin began as the Dwarf opened his mouth and vomited onto Toran's leg.

"Never mind." Kaelin finished. Toran ignored both the Human and the Dwarf, enduring it stoically.

However, as they neared the shore, Toran, with a mighty heave, threw the Dwarf out of the boat to splash a good twenty feet away into the surf. He then jumped out himself, ran through the shallows and proceeded to vigorously dunk the Dwarf repeatedly despite the many weak and choked protests. When the rinsing was complete, the beast man gave another great heave which landed the Dwarf, wet, miserable and exhausted on the shore. After a single attempt to raise himself up, the Dwarf collapsed and lay unmoving and silent except for heavy exhalations.

"Now at least he is clean!" Toran said before wading to shore himself.

The others got out of the boat in a more refined fashion and were even kind enough to put the Dwarf's belongings next to him before the trio headed into the small community of Chassel.

The town consisted of a few dozen buildings that gradually ran up the sand to where the rich, volcanic soil was farmed. Most of the buildings were made of bamboo and topped with roofs of interwoven leaves. The ones closest to the water were on stilts with bamboo floors as well.

Soon after the villagers had noticed them, the town watch began discretely observing them as well. It wasn't surprising really, armed and armoured newcomers were rarely welcomed. At very best, danger followed them.

However, these visitors were at least good for business. No sooner did Kaelin enter the town's market square, conveniently located just off the end of the piers that service the many small fishing vessels, than he began ordering some of the delicacies on offer. One of the enterprising women cooked food for some of the more affluent fishermen and was more than happy to accept a silver piece from Kaelin to cook and serve his most recent purchases.

Xanthia asked the nearest local, who just happened to be one of the town watch, where he could buy things in this town.

"Well, unless your looking for food or craft wares, you'd best head up to the tower. That's the local import/export. Valinus runs it, runs it right well." The watchman pointed.

Without a further word, Xanthia walked toward the old stone tower, one of the very few stone buildings of the town, which he could see on a small rise further inland. The inside was blessedly cool and filled with shelves, boxes and crates. He hadn't noticed the dark shape of Toran move up and take up position outside the doorway. He did notice the hulking form of a guard. Granted this was assisted by the fact that said hulking guard rang a bell on the wall when he noticed Xanthia enter.

"Boss will be with you in a minute." The guard said in a husky voice.

In far less than a minute, a tall, elegantly dressed Eladrin male came down the stairs to the upper floor. He studied Xanthia for a moment and then said in a cheerful, melodious tenor, "you must be new to town. How can I help you today?"

"Yes, I just arrived." Xanthia answered, "I require a staff, helpful in both walking and, perhaps in combat."

"I see." The proprietor said looking more closely at the beast man, "well I don't have anything for someone of your height but I'm certain I can have something made. It will be ready tomorrow. Now, please, could you tell me how you came to be here?"

"Our ship has been damaged and we were forced to come ashore here. The ship is still there and the crew might need some assistance from the town. You can see it from the beach."

"Ah, I see. You didn't have any problems coming along the coast?"

"None, although we only reached the coast this morning." Xanthia was becoming bored with this man's questions and moved to leave.

"Oh, I just mention it because we've had some problems with our shipments. There's apparently some horrible monster that attacks our coastal craft." The Eladrin gave Xanthia another appraising look. "You should talk to Amos down at the docks."

Without answering, Xanthia left.

Toran was well aware that his presence sometimes bothered the druid, so he leaned against the wall to await the druid's return, he could hear any commotion coming from inside the building while continuing to scan for threats outside. As he waited, he noticed a guard; a large guard of undoubted Orcish heritage regarding him closely. The fact that the guard was a female did little to soften the impression that she was evaluating how she could effectively fight and defeat Toran.

The beast man met her gaze and offered her the respect of returning her appraising, warrior's look. He noted how battered the shield she carried looked, the loose manner in which she carried her cudgel and the light leathers she wore, despite the heat.

He was almost sorry when Xanthia came out and began heading for the market area.

Kaelin was enjoying the food. While there had been nothing wrong with the food on board the Blessed Benetabra, none of it had been terribly fresh. While the food he sampled in the market square was largely simple fare, all of it was straight from the farm. He basically gorged himself waiting for the others to return.

Taking yet another skewer of meat and vegetables from the farm wife as it was cooked, he asked, "I hear that there is a path the Hot Creek and then on to Griffinport. Where can I find it?"

She looked down quickly and just pointed to one of the huts. This one had a high bamboo wall around it enclosing a large yard. Through the entrance he could see the remains of a burned wagon. Above the opening in the wall was a sign with words painted by an elegant hand, 'Weldon Calhoon – Coster'. Below that was a nicely painted picture of fully laden wagon being drawn by horses.

As he wandered in, a man with a wooden leg stood up from the remains of the wagon and looked at him with what seemed to be equal measures of hostility and suspicion. "What do you want?"

"Problems with the wagon?" Kaelin observed mildly.

"Don't get me started."

"Alright," Kaelin continued, "when I asked about the road to Hot Creek, someone directed me to you."

"Did they?" He commented and looked venomously past Kaelin to the throng of people in the market. "Well, I suppose they did the right thing. See, I built that road to help them all get their stuff to and from civilization and how do they repay me, by letting that Tok'rish Valinus burn my wagon!"

"That's awful." Kaelin observed. "But the road is okay?"

"The road is fantastic!" The man, presumably Weldon, was yelling now. "It's a great road, wide enough, hacked right through the jungle! A work of gods bedamned art it is! But no one can use it! Amos loves him monopoly on transport and even though he can't get anything through, he won't let me use my road."

"Why not?" Kaelin said quietly trying to get the man to calm down a little.

"I said, he loves his monopoly!" Weldon did quiet down a bit. "I know it's that Valinus behind it all though. They've set up bandits on the road to make sure nothing gets through."

"Bandits you say," Kaelin commented with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure," the angry man spat, "I had a shipment due in about five days ago and have seen not a sign of it. Must have been taken, Gods blight the Elf!" He spat again.

"My friends and I might be able to do something about bandits."

With an expression of surprise and then something like hope, Weldon regarded Kaelin and finally said, "would you? I'd really appreciate it. If you could find any sign of my workers, two good boys named Hab and Lonnor . . . and my goods as well. There was a bunch of stuff, some . . ."

"I'll try." Kaelin said cutting the man off. "I can promise no more than that."

The trio met up a few minutes later and Kaelin filled them in on what he had heard from Weldon.

"I think that I met this Valinus," Xanthia said, "he didn't seem like an evil man."

"Well I was thinking that since we're probably going to be going along this road anyway we might as well look out for his goods wagon and bandits." Kaelin said, "after all, there is strength in numbers."

"It seems wise." Xanthia said and then nodded. "Very well, we shall travel together along the road and see if we can find these bandits."

There was very little that they needed to do in order to ready themselves for travel. Within five minutes they were on the outskirts of town and then travelling along the road deep into the jungle. The road was indeed well constructed. Fresh gravel along its surface discouraged the rapid growth of plants from the jungle but already, the freshly hacked fronds on the edges were seeking to retake territory lost to the road.

The jungle closed in on all sides and above them so that they travelled mostly through a tunnel of greens and browns. Away from the shore the wind died completely and it seemed that the humid air closed on them as well.

Toran originally recommended that they travel beside the road but, after seeing the thickness of the jungle, all agreed that their pace would have slowed to a crawl. Even on the road, only a few miles from town, they were beginning to weary from the heat and humidity and still there was no sign of wagon or ambush.

The day just seemed to grow hotter, especially for Xanthia, and after hours of walking, he relented and took off his armour. The rigid leather trapped heat next to his fur and he had begun to feel dizzy. With the armour off he felt like he could finally breath freely again.

"And if an attack comes?" Toran said looking at the armour that Xanthia was placing in his pack.

"Then I shall deal with it without my armour's benefit."

Toran grunted unhappily but could do little more.

They continued walking and it only grew warmer with a brief, light afternoon rain shower. As the light began to dim with evening, the trio began to think that no attack would come.

Of course, this was precisely when it did.

With no warning at all, a blade sliced into Xanthia's back, drawing a line of red as it passed. Only Xanthia's instinct, causeing him to rush forward, avoided a crippling wound to his backbone.

The noise caused Kaelin jump away from the danger and hide in the gloom, waiting for a chance to spring his own ambush.

Toran, who had been travelling a little way ahead, turned and charged the threat. His target was an Elf or Eladrin wearing camouflaged clothing and carrying a wickedly long knife. His response obviously caught the fey by surprise. Toran's axe came up and connected solidly, sending the ambusher sprawling ten feet beyond wounded and scrambling to his feet.

Toran was already moving for another charge when Kaelin drew his sword and began summoning his inner darkness. The Eladrin revealed his nature and stepped back into the fey world, vanishing from sight.

"Be careful," Xanthia said picking himself up from the road where he had fallen, "he will not have gone far. The fey realm can . ." He was interrupted as a second ambusher revealed himself in the jungle by the roadside, as this one advanced; he drew a powerful longbow and fired an arrow which thudded painfully into Xanthia's shoulder.

Orienting toward this new threat, Toran tried another charge but the Elf fired arrow after arrow with near supernatural speed forcing the beast man to leap from side to side before he could get a solid swing. In fact, two arrows were broken by powerful swings of Toran's axe, just before they would have hit him.

Xanthia had better success throwing an explosive seed which, while not hitting the Elf, the burst of flame caused the him to move quickly before being burned. Xanthia was about to throw a second when the Eladrin reappeared from the jungle behind him and again his blade bit into the Druid's back.

However, Kaelin had not been distracted by the second attacker and had noticed the Eladrin's return just too late to prevent his attack on Xanthia. The assassin's eyes went black and deadly shadows emerged from the jungle, grabbing the Eladrin right after his attack. Around his neck the shadows jerked him back and with an audible crack, his neck snapped and he flopped lifelessly to the ground.

The Elven archer, hard pressed by Toran's seeking axe, gained quick respite by moving agilely around jungle plants where Toran had to hack and push his way through. On the road, he saw Xanthia near his dead, fey companion and decided on revenge. From less than ten paces away, as he moved, he took careful aim at the druid's head, which would surely be a death shot.

As he released the bowstring, Toran saw the danger and threw his heavy axe. The weapon was in no way balanced for throwing but miraculously hit the Elf's hand, it's heavy axe head painfully slamming into the hand and forcing the aim high and to the Elf's left. The arrow flew off into the jungle.

With his hand bleeding, the Elf tried to gather another arrow and aim it at Toran but the beast man was too quick. In a fluid, rolling motion, Toran snatched his axe from the road where it had fallen and in the same action brought it down on the frantically moving Elf. The blade hit in the collarbone as the Elf was just bringing up his bow, the blade biting deep, cutting through ribs and tissue. The Elf's final shot was forced low and rattled off of the gravel of the road before he fell back and died with a single, shuddering breath.

The trio looked around in the suddenly quiet jungle. No new attack came and slowly, the sounds of bird calls and insect squeaks resumed.

"Agghhhaaah!" Xanthia yelled as he pulled the arrow painfully from his shoulder.

Toran came forward and looked at the twin wounds on the druid's back. "I don't think they are serious but you will want to cover them."

"I will," Xanthia said in a growling tone and began pulling his armour out of his pack, "with my armour this time. But first, please, put some cloth on the wounds of my back for me."

While the two beast men worked, Kaelin moved forward and began regarding the Eladrin he had killed with his power over shadow. He regarded the man's face in the gathering gloom, using his boot to turn his head forward and in profile. He then began removing the man's camouflaged wrappings.

After a thoughtful pause, Kaelin moved toward the other two. "Uhh, look. We've helped each other out a few times now and I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me. I'm going to do something now, but I assure you that I am still myself and mean you no harm so please, try not to be alarmed." With that, his face seemed to melt and shift; his hair lightened, shortening and within seconds the change was complete and looked identical to the Eladrin that had just attacked them.

The two beast men looked for a moment and then Toran said to Xanthia, "if I put this piece of cloth here, your armour will rub less when you move." Xanthia nodded, both were clearly unimpressed by Kaelin's transformation.

After a short time, Kaelin said, still wearing the Eladrin's features, "I must admit that I'm both distressed and relieved that you take my Changeling nature with so much ease."

"In Human lands, we are often regarded as less than people." Toran said, "the truth is that I myself feel better that you are not entirely Human. It is they're fear of all things different that causes this mistrust. You, being what you are, probably know this better than I do."

"But it is a little impressive is it not?" Kaelin said as he changed again, this time into a replica of Xanthia.

Xanthia smiled, "you still smell the same; and besides, I can change myself." With that, he adopted his bestial form of a shadow wolf.

Kaelin got on all fours and managed something of an approximation of the wolf but was lost when Xanthia scratched his own pointed ear with his back leg. Kaelin, trying to mirror the movement fell awkwardly on his side and laughed. "All right, you win." He said as he grinned and turned back into the Eladrin attacker.

Xanthia let out a soft howl of success.

While they were occupied, Toran began moving the bodies off of the road. As he did so, he noticed a smell coming from nearby. Following this, he soon uncovered a wagon, the stays broken and one of the wheels badly cracked. The smell came from four corpses; two were horses that were hastily covered with foliage near the edge of the road, the other two were all too human. One lay in the otherwise empty bed of the wagon, the other was pinned to the side by two arrows imbedded in its chest.

A little later, Kaelin noticed that there was a trail near where the Elven archer had started shooting at them from. Their guess was that this is where the camp of the bandits was and probably where they must have taken the stolen cargo.

"We can't bring his worker's back, but we can probably bring Weldon's cargo home for him."

"Yes," Toran nodded, "but there are almost certainly more of them there. We should be cautious."

Putting on the leafy camouflage and making certain of his disguise, Kaelin said, "we may be welcomed as friends. Stay a way behind me, out of sight but be ready to come if you hear my signal."

Kaelin soundlessly followed the path, stealth came naturally to him and while the jungle was foreign, he knew well how to use the darkness to best advantage. Well behind him he could hear the others. While their bestial eyes could see far better in the gathering night and they knew how to move through foliage, they didn't do so quietly. Twice, they nearly caught him up despite their slow walking pace.

In the end, Kaelin came to the end of the path, which had petered out into a slight parting of the thick jungle on all sides. The path just stopped at the drooping foliage of a large tree.

Looking around, Kaelin was confused. He was fairly certain that the bandits used this path but where did they go from there? He looked up, in case there was some rope or ladder they climbed, he then tried looking at the ground in case there was some hidden trapdoor to an underground lair. Nothing. In growing desperation, he began to search inside the foliage to the side, and that was when he saw it, a twisted vine rope, clearly worn from use.

With some caution, he pulled the rope, tentatively at first but then with more strength. He was rewarded by a whole section of foliage moving down and revealing a large wooden ramp leading up to a platform around a tree. He could just see a rope companionway leading similar platform further up in another tree.

This was obviously the bandit's hideaway and for something this size, there were clearly more than the two bandits they encountered on the road.

Wearing the face of the Eladrin bandit he had killed, Kaelin started up the ramp.


	4. Chapter 4

GM Notes 2

The last chapter is only half of the write up for session two since my players have started reading these and I didn't (don't) want to include any spoilers. I also didn't write any GM notes for that session for the same reason. So this covers most of the last two sessions.

The second gaming session went very well. I had a pretty good idea of where the PCs were going (they were heading down the road to find the bandits for Weldon Calhoon, the wagon master). The heat took its toll and they learned that they had to make endurance rolls if they wanted to exert themselves wearing armour. A failed roll means losing a healing surge.

I was happy when the ambush succeeded and the combat went really well. They then followed the trail to the camp and managed to wend there way in. Then there was a minor fly in the ointment. Two of the three party members chose to take on another second platform before the first was finished. If I followed my notes, this would have brought the leader out as well and they would have had an extremely tough time fighting the three enemies from the second platform as well as the leader without a rest in between. So I chose to leave the leader out for the moment.

After their rest, they went to the leader's platform and found what a prisoner trapped within tree branches. This was actually the leader, she was going to allow herself to be 'rescued' by the PCs and attack them during the next fight.

However, my players know me well and made sure she was never in that position while they isolated and killed the last of the bandits. My contingency plans were that she might attack them when they rested but most likely she would continue the charade until she could escape from them and then act as a recurring NPC that can show up in the future, probably providing some clues for the players.

Unfortunately, the game ended fairly suddenly after they finished off the bandits, so they didn't get a chance to take a major rest, get back to town or even decide on their next course of action.

The third session wasn't as good despite planning and some inspiration I had. A friend wanted to join in with a new character for a few sessions, and I thought 'why not make him the prisoner?' I floated the idea to him and he was fine with it.

Unfortunately I got sick before the next session, delaying it a week meaning that all momentum was lost for the players. Also, apparently my friend didn't understand that his character was supposed to be female but that wasn't too much of a problem. His character is of the more comedic variety which is a lot of fun but does make it harder to get the players to take the game seriously and keep them focussed on the game. But the philosophical idea behind the game is player freedom so I can't really complain.

I did manage to get all of them back to the town and encounter a few more quest options. After a while, Kaelin decided to take up the one from the local priest of Ioun, which involved investigating some ruins that something had moved into.

It took me too long to find my notes on this so there was a bit of a wait and then, by the time the combat came on, I was a little tired and had to work hard to keep gamer focus.

So, in summary, I'd say that session 2 went very well while session 3 not so good, suffering from a bit of a lack of focus.


	5. Chapter 5

Game Log 3

Up the ramp, the platform was unlike anything that Kaelin had ever seen. The tree at the centre was still clearly alive, but it was as if a thin section had somehow ballooned out to form a large, flat, platform that extended about 30 feet, in every direction, from the trunk. There were even a couple of boughs that grew out of the trunk that held deep green leaves at about the level of the platform which section sectioned off an arc of the platform. More green branches further up provided further proof that the tree was still alive and doing well.

Through the gloom, the assassin noticed several boxes, barrels and crates piled near one of the large branches that grew from the main trunk. It appeared that he had discovered the missing cargo and, as he silently stepped forward he heard noise.

Freezing, he moved his head from side to side to get a better bearing on the sound. It was on the far side of the leafy branches, a rhythmic scraping sound, maybe metal on wood.

Moving stealthily around to approach it from a different angle, Kaelin found that he had no choice but to move through the foliage of at least one branch. He couldn't see at all what lay on the other side and there was no way he could sneak silently through the closely weaved branches and leaves.

Short sword in hand, he leapt through thinking that while this is reckless, he wore the face of his enemy and that his companions were only a shout away.

The other side was better lit, a lantern hung from a higher branch near the trunk. Kaelin instantly saw another Elf, his back to the trunk as he whittled at a piece of wood with a pathetically small knife – obviously the origin of the scraping sound.

As Kaelin saw the Elf, so the Elf saw him and immediately leapt up in alarm and then stopped and smiled, obviously recognising Kaelin's borrowed face. In scolding tones he said, "Belsornin, shar esii o pily casai!"

Deciding that the best way to continue was to provide a distraction of his own. "Didn't you see my SIGNAL!" The last was said quite loudly so that hopefully, Toran and Xanthi would hear. Kaelin also fervently hoped that he could bluff the Elf long enough so that he wouldn't wonder why he was speaking in Common.

"What signal Belsornin," the Elf, actually Kaelin now recognised him as an Eladrin, seemed to automatically switch to Common without thought, "were you attacked? Where is Wessellyn?"

"Yes, attacked on the road," Kaelin said speaking loudly to keep the Eladrin's attention. "There were too many, they . . ."

He was interrupted by a rustling in the branches and leaves behind the Eladrin, who quickly turned, dropping the knife and branch and drawing a slim and slender sword that it wore at his hip.

As Toran's axe and then head sundered its way through the leaves, twigs and branches of the tree, the Eladrin struck . . . or tried to. As he thrust his sword toward the beastial face a loop of pure shadow looped its way around his neck and suddenly drew him painfully backwards. The Eladrin landed on his back next to Kaelin and looked up seeing the dead blackness of the assassin's eyes and realised too late that he had been deceived.

Struggling to his knees, still being strangled by suddenly substantial shadow, the Eladrin summoned his own escape into the fey realm just as Toran charged toward him. The beast man looked suspiciously at Kaelin for a moment, but the complete blackness of his eyes and the shadows which seemed to cling to him made him certain that Kaelin was his comrade rather than the fey his face looked like.

Still breathless, the Eladrin emerged from the fey realm on the far side of the leafy barrier and out of sight of both Toran and Kaelin, but not far from the druid who had remained on that side. Reacting quickly, the fey drew a heavy, metal spike that sat on top of one of the crates of stolen goods, and threw it at the somewhat surprised Xanthia. However, it was a hasty throw and did little more than force Xanthia to dodge to the side.

Calling out, "it is here!" Xanthia drew fiery seed out of his pouch and threw it back at his opponent; he also missed, but discovered that he had at least succeeded in keeping the Eladrin busy enough as once again, Toran exploded through the foliage screen to confront the Eladrin.

Hearing the noise, Kaelin felt certain that both Xanthia and Toran could take care of the single, off balance Eladrin. He had noticed that there were two vine and wood bridges, much like rope bridges he had seen, that moved up to other platforms higher up in nearby trees. Silently he began moving up one of these bridges.

Toran charged the Eladrin who had a scant second to prepare his sword, which drew a painful cut on the beast man's arm as he swang his axe up. Toran's powerful blow caught the fey in the midsection and flung him no less than 15 feet back into the foliage that surrounded the platform.

Xanthia realised that Toran was in no danger and looked around to see if he could see Kaelin. Moving through the considerable hole that Toran had made in the branches and leaves with two charging passages, he couldn't see the Changeling but did notice motion on one of the vine and wood walkways, as if someone were moving along it. He followed guessing that Kaelin might need help on the next platform.

The Eladrin, now down on the ground had recovered and was standing when Toran jumped down at him. Suffering from both the blow to the midsection and strangulation from the impostor, he could offer only feeble resistance. He dodged the first blow and parried another but Toran was relentless and finally landed a blow that split the Eladrin's head open and killing him.

The second platform was much higher in the air than the first one and, if he had been of a position to appreciate it, Kaelin might have noticed a pleasant breeze blowing through the evening air at this height.

He wasn't in that position, since he could see another Eladrin again sitting against the bole of the tree. On this platform, a very large, leafy branch angled across much of the platform essentially forming a wall from the middle to one end. Kaelin could see no way through this other than going around.

The Eladrin was looking out into the dark sky, apparently appreciating the last of the sunset. Kaelin, moved away from the connecting bridge, but stayed concealed in the leaves and branches near the edge. When he was close enough, Kaelin silently drew his short sword and drew upon his inner powers. The shadows behind the man grew thick and substantial, gaining both form and power as the assassin continued to concentrate.

Without warning the shadows struck. Thick, black cords reached around the Eladrin's neck and the only thing that saved him was the chance that he took a drink, which blocked the cord reaching around his neck. It was still painful and the loud 'crack!' was testament that the arm broke. With a yell of pain, the Eldrin still managed to think well enough to roll to the side and disappear into the fey realm, but Kaelin knew he wouldn't go far.

After the activity and the quick yell, the quiet that followed seemed strange, almost as if the evening was holding its breath. Violence returned soon with two Elves coming from around the partitioned area, bows raised and ready. They saw Kaelin and took only a second to see through his disguise, again the black eyes and shadows gave him away. They both fired at the same instant, one arrow drawing a shallow gash along Kaelin's leg, while the other missed by barely an inch and skittered through the brush near his head.

Both of the Elves were surprised an instant later when the large form of a shadowy wolf suddenly ploughed into them; a snapping, snarling mass that threw the pair into confusion and caused them to retreat.

Using this distraction, Kaelin sank back to the very edge of the platform and slid off, hanging over the side and holding on only with his hands, it ensured that none could see him as he began slowly moving around the edge of the platform.

The Eladrin, who had obviously hidden after coming out of the feyrealm, took his opportunity to attack 'the wolf' from behind. However, his broken arm hampered him and his blow against Xanthia's flank was weak, barely breaking the skin. Soon the Elves had reloaded and once again moved out from behind their cover. Both fired this time at Xanthia and the arrows caught him in the side, the force sliding him toward the edge of the platform but not over. Breathing raggedly, one lung certainly punctured, the druid looked up as the Eladrin moved up with his short sword poised . . . only to be slammed into by Toran who had just raced up the vine bridge.

Toran put all of his weight behind the charge, which easily knocked the wounded Eladrin to the deck of the wooden platform. Then, with a single fluid motion, he brought his axe, still bloody from his grim work below, down on the Eladrin with a killing blow.

Both of the Elves fired new arrows at Toran. Their aim was true and the wicked barbs penetrated the armour and embedded in his chest and he fell backwards to the platform.

To slow to stop their shots, Xanthia, who had reverted to his normal form, threw a fireseed at pair. It managed to hit one, causing the Elf to yell and leap back behind the partition, the flames even splashing onto his companion. However, he did not think it was long for them to recover and fire more, deadly arrows at them. Despite this, he dragged himself to Toran lying on his back with the arrows protruding from his chest like straight stems of roses.

Indeed the Elves were hastily patting out the flames and readying new arrows when one of them noticed that the shadows cast by the flames seemed to be moving erratically. They seemed to . . .

. . . suddenly the shadows leapt out at them seeking their throats. The Elf with the more serious burns succumbed almost immediately but his companion heard noise from behind and managed to nock an arrow. Kaelin was already back on the platform and moving, the shot missed as he ran toward his companions. The last remaining Fey readied his bow and pursued, flicking off shadows already losing their substance. As he rounded the corner, the Elf was suddenly beset from all around by tiny attackers.

Xanthia had put out a silent call to the smallest denizens of the jungle. Insects fluttered through the air and scuttled along the wood. The druid's range was limited but insects were thick in the air, and even he had not expected the thick cloud of buzzing, fluttering insects or the creeping carpet that had responded to his call. Every one of these insects struck at the Elf who suddenly could not even breath without inhaling several of the creatures. Swatting and jumping did little good as the biting and stinging mass increased their efforts. Several of them had injected poisons and while none of these would have been more than an irritant normally, the combined effect was agonizing. When the Elf finally fell it only became worse as the mass of insects on the ground could now attack more than just his legs and feet.

Kaelin watched in revulsion as the Elf succumbed to the horror of the insect mass. Xanthia, while he was impressed that he had summoned so many, was simply satisfied with the result and quickly turned to Toran who was still breathing but was clearly gravely wounded by the arrows. He worked at removing them without causing greater damage.

With the arrows removed from Toran, Xanthia turned to his own wounds. Removing the two arrows from his side was much more difficult but his own internal discipline managed to keep his hand steady enough to remove the painfully barbed arrows. After a few breaths, as deep as he could manage without coughing, he steadied himself; the druid then quickly moved between forms a few times. As he changed from humanoid to wolf and back, each transformation helped to heal his wounds to a small extent, but it was painful.

When he felt he was able, he turned back to Toran. His companion was breathing a little easier, his own natural heritage allowed him to recover quickly from many wounds, and the druid could aid this with a healing chant promoting growth.

Before he began he turned to Kaelin. "You must guard us for a time, as both of us will be helpless during the chant. I doubt there are more nearby, they would have come by now if they had heard, but I cannot be sure."

"Yes, alright . . . I can do that." Kaelin replied somewhat shakily. He was still watching the mass of insects who were now readily consuming the barely moving Elf. He had briefly noticed Xanthia's transformations and realised what the druid had been doing. He knew a similar trick as a changeling, by reshaping his flesh, injuries were repaired but, for him at least, it took effort and he knew that one could quickly find oneself exhausted if one took on too much.

"Noon-sum, ree-sum, noo-rah, choo-rah, all-cho, mo-cho, . . ." Xanthia began chanting with one hand on a wound of Toran's chest.

Looking around, Kaelin noticed more details of the platform that he was on. First, there was another of the vine bridges to yet another, higher platform further along. There were some cushioned mats around the partition, several utensils for eating or basic care, as well as what seemed to be personal effects. He concluded that this platform must have been quarters for the Elves and Eladrin they had just killed. Looking around he did manage to find several pouches of coins as well as a few valuable personal items and some jewellery. Pouring all of these items into one of the larger pouches, he concealed this among some of the branches so that it could be retrieved later.

Xanthia stopped chanting after about twenty minutes. By that time it was fully dark, the insects had eaten much of the Elf's corpse leaving little more than a disgusting pile of flesh and bone. Both Xanthia and Toran could walk without difficulty but their wounds would take some time to heal fully.

"I've found this," Kaelin told the pair before reconcealing the pouch, "now, would you like me to scout ahead?"

"Probably for the best." Xanthia replied, "we will be ready here."

Kaelin crept up the next bridge toward another, higher but smaller platform around an adjacent tree. He found it dark and empty but there was a section that was shielded by a leafy curtain. Moving closer, he tried to silently slip between the leaves – an impossible task as it turned out.

The other side of the curtain was lavishly furnished but dark. Sudden movement and sound alerted Kaelin to something near the trunk of the tree and he regretted not recrafting his Eladrin disguise.

"Finally something happened," a melodious voice said in the darkness, "someone came, not through the feywild, but through the screen. Could this be a rescuer? That would be in keeping with the hero's plight."

At first, Kaelin was alarmed; then he was confused. Was the voice talking to him? "Uh, who are you?"

"Aramil my good rescuer! Quickly, release me before the villains return." The voice sounded different but came from the same place as before, then the voice changed back, "this had to be the rescue that the hero required."

"Ummm, hold on a moment."

Kaelin left and rejoined the others, "there's only one up there. Some sort of crazy man who seems to be a prisoner. It's dark so I can't see him but he's sort of talking to himself."

The three of them then moved back up the ramp and through the leaves. "Excellent," the voice said now sounding more excited, "you have brought companions to assist. Above my head is a lantern, light it and it will aid you in freeing me."

Xanthia thought that this couldn't hurt, so did as the voice said. They then saw the speaker, he was obviously an Elf or Eladrin, however he was secured to the main trunk of the tree in a sitting position by dozens of small branches and even thick sections of bark, as if the tree itself had grown quickly around him to keep him there.

"The lantern lit, the hero can at last see the faces . . . no, the doughty countenances of his rescuers."

"Why do you say that?" Kaelin asked.

"Words have power to shape the world and the hero's story must be told." The Eladrin replied cryptically.

"Riiight." The assassin replied and then turned to his companions, "see, this is why I said he was crazy."

Toran waved Kaelin's response away. "How do we know that you are not among our enemies?"

"Would I be secured here, at your mercy, if I meant you harm?" The Eladrin reasoned, "I only ask for freedom and to aid you. It seems that I could do you little to you. There are three of you, all armed and armoured, to one of me, who is neither."

"He has a point." Toran said and then began hacking at some of the larger branches.

"Thank you," said the prisoner, and then, in the voice that seemed his narration. "The hero could only hope that they completed freeing him before the wizard returned."

"Wizard?" Both Toran and Xanthia said simultaneously.

"Yes, it was a wizard that imprisoned me such."

Immediately the three seemed to look around with concern. Kaelin crouched and said, "I'll look around, come if I yell or you hear combat."

Toran nodded and continued hacking at the branches perhaps with a little more vigour.

Xanthia picked up a staff that was leaning against an elegant couch. "Did this belong to the wizard?"

"It certainly did," Aramil said reaching for the staff with his one free hand. Xanthia quickly held it out of reach. None of them completely trusted this Eladrin, considering the bandits they had recently faced.

Just as Aramil struggled out and stood stretching himself out with obvious delight, Kaelin returned. "There's another bridge to yet another platform. I think there might be some there as I could see light, but heard no noise or voices."

After a moment's thought, Xanthia said. "We'll use the same plan. You sneak up on them while we stay here and will back you up. If they attack, try to lead them back here where we can attack them on the bridge."

Once again Kaelin started carefully down the bridge. He found that going down was actually harder than going up without swaying the structure. However, he made it down with little difficulty. This platform was the largest save for the first, low one that they discovered. There were also several more leaf and branch screens which created four, semi-private areas. Kaelin was pleased to find that three held fey who were laying on mats, staring upwards in a trance. He'd, of course, heard of this. It was the Elven equivalent of sleep.

The forth area also held one of the fey, but this is where the light had come from. This one was reading from a scroll and was as engaged as the other three were. Kaelin judged him to be the largest threat, so he died first.

Using stealth to strike when a foe was defenceless was exactly what Kaelin had been trained to do. One by one, with the reading Elf first, Kaelin performed his work. He would creep in soundlessly, blade drawn. Near his victim, he would summon the shadows, thickening them to the point that they would muffle sounds and in a position to stifle all movement. Then, in a single instant, the shadowy bonds would move tight and he would thrust his blade into the neck. The victim was dead nearly instantly, the only sign most made was a slight bulging of the eyes and a single, quick wriggle.

Many might have considered this horrible or at least disturbing, but to Kaelin it was simply work, and much better than the battles he'd fought earlier in the night. During his training, it was encouraged that one reflect on their own death and Kaelin had often wished that he be killed by an assassin at least as gifted as he was. A quick thrust by surprise, maybe a small amount of pain and then death. He considered this far kinder than even growing old.

Back on the highest platform, by silent agreement, Aramil was constantly watched. He didn't seem like an enemy but he was certainly unusual. Every so often he would describe his own actions or observations as if he were narrating them. He didn't refer to himself as Aramil during these times, but only as 'the hero'.

It would have even been amusing if it weren't so peculiar. At one time, Aramil turned toward both of them and said, "however, his new companions did not know of the hero and their own natural suspicion made this hard. But still, they knew he was no threat and deep, deep inside their hearts they recognised that he was a force for good."

Toran chuckled at this, a soft but hearty chuckle that wasn't mocking or unfriendly. Xanthia, while remaining suspicious, realized that Aramil hardly seemed the sort to pose a threat and probably was working for the greater good . . . reflecting though on those words, he then wondered if he had been spelled somehow? Were those his actual thoughts or had Ald? somehow implanted them within him. In the end he decided that there was no way he could know for sure and questioning if something was real or just an incredibly intricate illusion was rarely useful.

When Kaelin's work was complete he came back. "There were four." He said simply, "all are dead now."

"The Hero was astonished!" Aramil said in astonishment, "How did you fight them all by yourself? I didn't hear a thing!"

Kaelin smiled and bowed slightly, "thank you."

They discovered that they had now seen all four of the platforms that made up the bandit camp. The group made a second circuit to make sure that no one was hiding anywhere. Kaelin then retrieved the coins that he had found and divided them among himself and his two companions while Aramil took a long sword, a bow, some arrows and leather armour from the fallen. "The hero was pleased to see that his companions were finally beginning to trust him."

Back on the largest and lowest platform, Kaelin said, "we still have to get Calhoon's trade goods back."

"Yes, and that means we must fix the wagon we found near the road." Toran responded. "Let's take what we can now and see if we can find a way to fix it when we get there."

The wagon, when they reached it again, was dragged out of the concealing foliage and the bodies removed from it. One of the two, large wheels was partially broken and needed support and reinforcing, but Xanthia thought he could do this by bracing several branches of the right size within the gap.

The only other problem was the cross spar that the horses would normally push against was broken. Toran also salvaged in the jungle for something that could replace it and eventually returned with a very large, slightly curved branch that was strong enough to substitute. Kaelin, using some rope that they had and some large, brass fittings form the recovered trade goods was able to secure it.

It took several trips back up the trail to finally load all of the goods from the bandit camp, and when it was done the group was nearly exhausted.

Despite this though, none of them wanted to remain with the possibility of an angry wizard returning. They decided that they would move some distance away before camping for the rest of the night.

Travel was slow in the darkness of the jungle pushing the laden wagon along the road, but after about half an hour the group judged that they must be far enough from the bandit camp to avoid detection. They crossed a small stream that paralleled the road to the east and found a small, cleared area behind a massive fern.

Exhausted, the group pretty much fell to the ground and lay still. There was some few words expressed regarding posting guards, but none of them, save Aramil could muster much energy. In the end, all rested in the darkness and nothing, save insects, disturbed them for the rest of the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Game Notes 3

No, the Tobarra campaign is not dead! In fact, there have been at least three game sessions that I have yet to write up and post up here. Rest assured, I'm working through them and will put them up when I can.

There was a bit of a hiatus in gaming; not my idea but some of the players left town for a couple of weeks so there was a gap until people got back.

We've temporarily lost Aramil the Elven Bard. The player can only join us at certain times of the year – he lives in another town where he attends university and is only really available during holidays. His character is still alive though and will be gaining the same xp that the others do so that he will be easily able to join in when the others level. I tend to think of him as a 'special guest star', joining the PCs when he can.

Speaking of xp, all PCs are now at 2nd level, but this won't be reflected for a while (and there won't be an obvious change from the writing point of view – no one will hear a *ding* in their heads or anything) but you can start looking forward to seeing new powers and abilities from the PCs from time to time.

The players themselves are starting to get a little experience themselves and are learning better to work with each other as well as, alas, how my mind works and thus better anticipate a little of what is to come.


	7. Chapter 7

Game Log 4

"I always knew that I was different, even from a very young age. Eladrin youths are encouraged toward introspection and when I examined why I thought this and after consulting with Elders as well as great, learned teachers, I eventually discovered the truth. I have the power to alter reality itself."

"Then how about you stop talking, alter reality and wish us to Chassel with this wagon? Or at very least help push!" Xanthia accused with no small annoyance from the front of the wagon. The group of four were now pushing the wagon of Calhoon's goods along the road. It was around noon and the hottest day that they had seen so far in Tobarra. Xanthia and Toran, the strongest members of the group, were pushing from the crossbar at the front, while Kaelin and Aramil were pushing from behind; in truth though, the latter were doing more talking than pushing.

"Indeed," came Aramil's polite reply and he began doing what he could to push. A few moments later though; Kaelin asked, "you still haven't explained how you became a prisoner?"

"Ah yes," Aramil said, wiping his hands on his newly acquired armour, "as I told you, I can alter reality. You see, we are all but players spawned from the mind of the Great Wordsmith who writes the parts we play. I discovered that I am one of the heroes as, no doubt, are all of you. This Wordsmith . . ."

Toran said in low tones to Xanthia, "this hero is about to cut that hero in half!"

". . . and so I traveled to where a hero was needed. This land of Tobarra seemed perfect, with a wild and rich history and a dangerous wilderness. When I arrived in Griffinport, I found some difficulty in finding fellows to join me."

"I wonder why?" Xanthia said to Toran with sarcasm, not well known among the Shifters. Despite that, Toran gave a low chuckle and then grunted and continued pushing.

"It was then that I found an Elf who told me that Chassel was a good place for me to go. But on arrival I found . . . well, that the adventure to be had was beneath me." Aramil continued, "deciding to leave, I was sailing along the coast when something attacked us, the entire ship that is."

"What was it?" Kaelin asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. I mean, I can't remember it at all. The last I recall of the journey is that I heard a shout that we were under attack and I pulled out a powerful wand to do something and then . . . nothing."

Xanthia cut in from the front of the wagon. "It must have been something that effected your mind . . .", he continued quietly to Toran, "what little of it there is." This won another chuckle.

"Yes, I gathered that too." Aramil said enthusiastically, "it must be a truly powerful force, but the Wordsmith was with me. The next thing I recalled were strong arms pulling me choking from the surf. I may have been attacked again because I was gravely wounded when I awoke the next time. I could tell only that I was in some sort of hut and it was now dark. Time went by, I cannot tell accurately how much but it must have been a few days. I wasn't fed and could only drink when water dripped from rain through the roof and into a small bowl next to me that I could just reach. After this time, I was blindfolded and carried, most uncomfortably but some foul smelling brute. We were travelling through the jungle, that little I could tell."

"Finally we stopped and I was put down like some sack of goods. I could hear some voices talking in the background and after a little, I was helped up and at last my legs were untied and the blindfold removed. Several Eladrin and Elves, none of which I had ever laid eyes on were around me. They warned me not to try to escape as if I did, I would be caught and killed. We then walked until nearly dark where I was taken to those tree platforms and secured to the tree by the one who was both in charge and a wizard. I must say that they didn't treat me unkindly. I was fed and given water but found that I couldn't enter the feywild when I was secured to the tree."

"So what happened to this wizard you mentioned?" Kaelin asked, still not helping to push the wagon.

"He left a little before you arrived." Aramil replied, "I think maybe an hour before? I can't be sure as time is hard to measure when you are immobilized by a tree. But I knew that as The Hero, someone would come to my rescue at the thematically appropriate juncture . . . when things looked grim, I would be saved for . . ."

Toran suddenly grunted and hefted his axe. He was sick and tired of doing most of the pushing of this heavy wagon. "Well things look pretty grim for you . . ."

Aramil spoke quickly, "Toran, the mighty warrior, was suddenly distracted by noises in the undergrowth . . ."

As he said this, a bush near the road suddenly rustled. Toran whirled and the others drew weapons. After a quick, suspicious look at Aramil, who was the only one who still stood unarmed, Toran advanced carefully toward the bush. It continued its violent thrashing and then stopped. With even greater care, Toran moved in until he was only two steps away. The bush gave one more violent thrash and then a small boar backed out and then ran off quickly into the jungle.

After a second Toran gave a laugh, "just a boar."

"Yes, and now I am quite ready to help push as I have told my tale." Aramil said and placed his hands on the back of the wagon.

Toran gave him a derisive grunt and then turned back to the hard work of pushing the wagon. It was a little easier with everyone finally helping him, but only a little, none of the group could match him for strength. He sighed and wondered at the gift of his great strength was now working against him. "Well, at least the know now that I can only be pushed so far." He muttered to himself.

Only Xanthia though, wondered at how the boar just happened to be there when Aramil had spoken? Had the Eladrin seen it enter the bush and suddenly become entangled? Had he somehow conjured it? Whatever the case, it had certainly gone as Aramil had said, Toran had been distracted. Maybe he could alter reality.

The day didn't become any more pleasant for the four now all pushing the wagon, and it wasn't until just after nightfall that the group made it into the village. However, their progress didn't go unnoticed. Villagers and guards heard the passage of the wagon and followed them all the way to Weldon Calhoon's compound.

Weldon came out and whistled. "Well, I didn't think anyone would be bringing this back. Where are my drivers?"

"I'm afraid they didn't make it. We found them near the wagons killed by bandit arrows, we did however take care of the bandits." Kaelin said, with some small pride.

"Elves I take it?" Weldon asked with a suspicious glance toward Valanis' tower. He had informed them before they left that he was certain that Valanis was behind the bandits.

"Yes as it turns out." Xanthia said.

"It figures," he pointed at Aramil and started to advance threateningly, "is this a prisoner?"

"Former prisoner," Kaelin said protectively standing in front of Aramil, "he wasn't one of them."

"I ain't so sure."

"Uncertain of his welcome, The Hero decides to sneak away." Aramil said, and began creeping, almost comically away. Everyone watched with a combination of astonishment and amusement. Xanthia recovered first, "alright, I'll go with him."

As the pair left the compound, Xanthia heard Calhoon say, "alright, that one probably isn't one of them. You didn't hit him in the head did you?"

Aramil seemed to know where he was going, he walked purposely up the hill toward the old tower which served as the general store, the one that Valinus owned. Xanthia followed carrying the staff he had he had taken from the bandit wizard's platform. He could feel arcane power flowing through it but had yet to unravel its secrets.

The 'bouncer' at the door, for that is how Xanthia thought of the large man, actually smiled when Aramil walked through the large doorway; this naturally turned to a scowl when he saw Xanthia behind him.

Across the main room, Valinus was speaking quietly with another Eladrin dressed in similar finery. When Aramil saw this he abruptly stopped; so much so that Xanthia nearly over-ran him. Aramil whispered to the beast man, "that one, next to Valinus, that is the wizard that held me prisoner."

At the same time, the pair of Eladrin across the room looked up. After a quick pause, Valinus smiled and said, "Aramil! It is so good that you are returned to us. What happened to you? We feared you lost." The wizard beside him just looked stunned.

"I was held prisoner." He replied bitterly and then pointed, "by that one!"

"What? That cannot be!" Valinus cut in far too smoothly, and then turned to the Eladrin beside him, "you've been at the keep with my sister haven't you Challmir?"

"Ah, yes Valinus." His reply was far less smooth. "I've been there with you sister for the last . . . ooh, three weeks?"

"That's right." Valinus replied, "you must be mistaken Aramil. I'm sure the whatever brutes held you prisoner may have . . ."

"I know what I saw!" Aramil almost shouted. He then turned and grabbed the staff Xanthia carried and held it forward toward Challmir, "do you recognise this?"

Again Valinus answered with a smooth response while the Eladrin next to him looked uncomfortable. "Yes, Challmir, this does indeed look like the old staff you used to have. You asked me to sell it for you and I sent it on the boat. The same boat you were on in fact Aramil. The bandits must have taken it when they apprehended you."

"I don't remember a staff . . ."

Valinus cut Aramil off, "no, you wouldn't have seen it. I had it in a lock box with other items. It's valuable so I didn't want it visible, it might be stolen."

He went on, speaking to Xanthia, "so you found this among the road bandits to the north? Hmm, I suppose you defeated them all?"

"That is correct; except the wizard which Aramil said escaped. All the others perished."

"Ah, so there are no witnesses, aside from Aramil?" Valinus replied, it was clear that Aramil couldn't be counted as a reliable witness. "Well, it seems that you won't be requiring the staff that you wanted us to make for you. That is fine," he cast a side long look at Challmir beside him, "I'm sure I can find someone who needs one. The spoils of battle and so forth."

"At this point, there was little the Hero could do to pursue the matter," Aramil narrated, "but he knew what he knew, and he had a long memory."

"Yes . . . well?" If Valinus felt threatened he did an excellent job of hiding it. "Unless I can help you good people with something else?"

His tone made it clear that if this polite dismissal wasn't regarded, a less polite one could be arraigned. Both Xanthia and Aramil left and returned to Calhoon's compound.

"I dare say I told you that the pointy-eared maggot was a snake!" Calhoon said once the pair had related what they had seen. He then turned toward Aramil and said a little downcast, "uh, present company excluded of course."

"The Hero smiled and nodded to Calhoon, knowing that the wagon master was a good man and certainly meant no offence." Aramil said, as he smiled and nodded. He then went on in his non-narrating tone, "what I don't understand is why Valinus has changed? He was very friendly before?"

"That's because you're an Elf." Calhoon said and spat on the ground. "He only likes them that have pointed ears. He hates me because I'm competin' with his control over what comes in and out of this town. That's why he set the bandits on my road."

"But why would he want the boat trade stopped?" Kaelin asked from the other side of the verandah, "after all, he should want the boat trade to go ahead. It's where he gets his stock from and sells things."

"My thoughts are that he is not responsible for that." Xanthia replied. "When I first went to his shop he suggested that I should talk with the boatman. He most likely wants the threat to the boat trade gone as much as anyone."

"Not me!" Said Calhoon as he got Toran another drink, "I hope that Arioss never gets his boats up and running again. More trade for my road." He gave a harsh laugh, "now it's my turn for a stranglehold on trade. We'll see how much High Lord I'm-so-much-better-'cause-I-have-pointy-ears likes that!" The strong rum that Cahloon was drinking and handing around was clearly having some effect on him.

"Still, you boys did well by me today and I won't forget it. You can stay here long as you like. 'Coarse, what I'd really like is for you guys to help get my next shipment to Hot Creek! I can get a ton of orders, things are starting to back up around here with Arioss'sss boats gone." He swayed a little unsteadily, "feel free to take any of the trade stuff I got, and I'll pay you a share of whatever I make on the shipment. Once we get to Hot Creek that is."

"That sounds good." Kaelin replied, "we never planned on staying around and we're all pretty much on our way to Griffinport. When do you think you could get going?"

"Well, I've got to fix up the new wagon first." He said taking another long drink, "the one you brought back is still pretty fragile but I can use if for parts on the new one. Then I'll get some cargo orders. Hmmm, probably about two, three days?" He looked up hopefully.

Toran looked around and then said. "Yes, we will do it."

"Thanks guys." Calhoon smiled and almost spilled his drink holding his cup of rum up in a sort of salute. He then drained it, nearly falling backwards. "Well, that's enough for me. I'm going to get some sleep."

"That would probably be wise for all of us." Xanthia said unrolling his sleeping mat and blankets.

The others agreed. While Calhoon's hospitality couldn't extend to beds, the compound was far more comfortable than camping in the jungle. All of them had bedrolls, including Aramil who had found an old one among Calhoon's trading goods. The two Beast men were asleep within moments, as was Aramil who had said before lying down, "the Hero, exhausted after his captivity and the day's exertions, was soon sound asleep."

Kaelin envied him for more than one reason as he tried to sleep. His newly acquired bed roll was locally made and thus had a very light blanket. Xanthia and Toran's were much the same, as both of them had fur to help insulate them, but Kaelin was stifling beneath the heavy wool of his own. When he swept it aside in order to benefit from whatever breath of breeze there might be in the thick, humid air, he found he was soon becoming a meal for insects.

After alternating between the two a few times he had had enough and stood up. The night was supposed to be his time anyway and he had begun to feel that he was losing his edge here. He knew little of the area, the people and what the local politics were. Certainly, while Valinus was a powerful figure in one faction, but what of the others? There were always those who opposed the ones in power, Calhoon was an example, but there should probably be others? Perhaps it was Valinus who was acting against a greater power?

With a smile, Kaelin decided to find out. Strapping on his short sword he moved to the gate only to find that there was a guard watching from across the way. He wasn't surprised. He and his band were a heavily armed group who were strangers in a small community, precisely the sort of people that the watch tended to keep an eye on.

With another grin, Kaelin continued to open the gate but changed his appearance to that of Calhoon and walked out. As expected, the guard stayed where he as Calhoon was a known quantity. Kaelin didn't even think the guard noticed the short sword on his hip. Long experience had taught him that people tended to see what they expected to see. Since Calhoon didn't usually go around armed, it was unlikely the guard looked that closely.

Chassel was small. Really little more than a village and the bamboo fenced yards meant that making his way was a little complex and confusing. Some of the buildings had lights shining through gaps in walls but most were dark. There were occasional voices, laughter and even music but it was clear to him that most were in their beds. This was a small, hard working community where people went to bed early and were up before dawn.

It was also isolated and thus, the watch was active at night, although mainly watching outwards for threats from the surrounding jungle. While avoiding these guard, Kaelin eventually found someone outdoors who wasn't a guard. A robed man, carrying a torch in one hand and a bag in the other was moving purposely toward the middle of town. Kaelin, now wearing his normal face, caught up to the man just before he entered a large building.

"Blessings upon you sir," the man said as he saw him and then his eyes widened, "ah, you're one of those that defeated the bandits on the road for Weldon Calhoon."

"I am."

"Well I am very pleased to meet you. My name is Grendor Elintor, Mentor of the church of Ioun. Please, come in." The Mentor was a short, stout man with almost white blond hair and striking blue eyes. His skin was pale where the sun didn't strike and either deep brown or bright red where it did. As a consequence his robe, which Kaelin noticed was a particularly fine cut of silk, covered as much as possible.

Elintor moved into the large, open area which was obviously the temple and then went to a small structure attached to the side, which contained a few rooms that he obviously lived in. "Please, let me get you some wine."

Kaelin certainly wasn't going to say no and was quite happy to sit at the very nice, dark wood table. On it were a few carved stone figurines and a shallow box which was half filled with what looked like broken rocks.

As Grendor handed Kaelin a cup of wine and took a sip from his own, he asked, "so, what brings you out on such a night? I'd heard you only just returned."

"I just wanted to see a little of the village."

"Well, I notice you succeeded in losing your guard," Grendor said with a hint of a smile, "that is at least something. But its more Valinus' men you should be looking out for."

"How come?" This was what Kaelin had been hoping to find, someone who could tell him what was going on. A source of information was considered vital for anyone in his occupation. While Kaelin could think of a couple of reasons why Valinus might want to do his group harm the mentor might know ones he remained ignorant of.

"Well, obviously because he was behind the bandits on Calhoon's road. Although I doubt you have any evidence that points to him, certainly nothing you could go to the watch with. Not that they would listen in any case. You should understand that Valinus feels he controls this town and is certainly not above arranging fatal accidents for those that cross him. Watch him closely . . ."

It took the assassin a few moments to realise that he hadn't told Grendor his name. "Kaelin, my name is Kaelin."

"Yes Kaelin, you should watch out for Valinus as he has tremendous influence here. I remember when the Leftenant was more active but those days are gone."

"The Leftenant," Kaelin asked, "he is your local lord, yes?"

"Yes, although you wouldn't know it. He hasn't been seen in the three months and then, only once and not for four months before that. None can see him, and his steward runs things . . . all to Valinus' favor let me assure you."

"Perhaps someone should take care of Valinis for you?" Kaelin said, resting a hand on his short sword meaningfully.

Mentor Elintor let out a sigh, "I would welcome it, Ioun forgive me, but I fear you underestimate that one. Valinus is crafty and has a great many people in his hand. Even if you were to succeed, I dare say you wouldn't live to leave town . . . no, I don't doubt your ability with a blade but what man can succeed with so many against him?"

"I am not quite one man." Kaelin said, "I have companions."

"Well maybe," Elentor didn't sound convinced, "but me tell you that there is a far better use for your prowess, and one that I'm sure all would welcome. My church here studies artifacts from the many ruins around. We are currently exploring three of them in the area and have found out a great deal about the Drow Elves that inhabited them hundreds of years ago. They were demon worshippers but with cultured civilization and not as tainted with evil as one might think. At least, we think so."

"However, one of the ruins has recently been overrun by some creature or creatures. We're not really sure what they are, but my initiates cannot continue their work. Would you and your group be willing to investigate and drive off the creatures? I'm sure the church could amply compensate you for this."

"I think you must know something of wizardly magic, Mentor." Kaelin said with a sly smile, "'amply compensate' are words of power that I fear I cannot fend against. I'll have to consult with my companions though. How about we call on you here in the morning, I believe they will agree, and then you can show us to this ruin."

"That would suit me quite well."

Finishing his wine, Kaelin left and had little difficulty sneaking back into Calhoon's compound. This time when he lay down neither the insects nor heat bothered him.

The next morning Kaelin told the others of his conversation with Mentor Elentor.

"How much do you suppose that he will give us?" Xanthia asked thoughtfully. He was happy enough to investigate the ruins but knew well how much the so called civilized people valued money. This was different from his tribal life where one's value was based on actions not on how much they had.

"He didn't name a price," Kaelin said, "but I doubt we'll be cheated. His temple was well provided for so I believe he isn't lacking for coin, and he said he traded in what is found in these ruins."

"The Hero felt compelled to speak up at this point, feeling somewhat ashamed by his companion's mercenary attitude." Aramil's preamble alerted them to his next words, "of course we'll go! There is adventure to be had here! Who cares for rewards? How can we turn our backs on a plea from a representative of the Gods themselves?"

Kaelin regarded the Eladrin coolly, "I agree that we go and see these ruins. But for the record Aramil, I care about rewards."

The issue settled, the four of them went to the temple where they found Mentor Elentor waiting for them. "Excellent, it is good to see you here. I'll lead you to the ruins now if you like? It shouldn't take too long to get there, they are only about two hours out of town."

Just before the set out, they all noticed a strange sound. Looking up, everyone noted that the Dwarf that Toran had thrown ashore the day before had recovered. He was now flying above the village on his strange, translucent floating platform. It turned to the north-east and then floated away at a steady pace.

"Extraordinary." Mentor Elentor said watching in awe.

After the Dwarf disappeared, he nodded to them all and set off at a brisk pace to the north-west. After leaving the fenced in buildings of the village proper, they traveled through the ring of farms. These were busy at the moment with most people out working before the day became too hot. Even this early in the morning the sun's light had a bite to it. As soon as the group left the farms and got beneath the jungle trees and amid the undergrowth, it became stifling.

Mentor Elentor seemed inured to the conditions and cheerfully commented on various plant species or what variety of rocks they passed. He truly was a font of knowledge, and while Xanthia quickly became too tired to bother listening very closely, he did note that the holy man certainly possessed an uncommon comprehension of nature at very least.

After what felt like half a day but couldn't have been more than a couple of hours from where the sun stood, the group emerged from the tangled trees and onto a muddy plain. It was in a bowl shaped valley and located just a short distance from them was a group of dirty ruins. Little more than some half-crumbled buildings, broken walls and the occasional column were the only things which still stood above the mud to show that there were once structures here.

"Observe is all that's left of Kuaal' Thuruun. A small town but with a fairly large garrison for some reason. At least that's what we believe from the relics recovered so far. Most of the town collapsed in a landslide long ago and is buried beneath the mud. But that large building toward the side was a temple to some demon lord and has been yielding good results. That is where we think something has moved in."

"There are no demons are there?" Toran asked.

"We don't think so," Elentor said in the same lecturing tone he had used with so far, "whatever it was dragged a lot of mud in. There were several of them but before we could identify the tracks, the initiates heard noises from within so left with all haste."

He waited to see if there were any more questions and when no one spoke he gestured, "may Ioun's blessing be upon you. I will wait here to lead you back once you have explored the ruins." With that, he sat down on a nearby fallen tree whose branches gave him a little protection from the sun.

"The four heroes looked at each other with grim determination before heading into the ruins." Amiril narrated as they started walking. While it was still hot, the nature of the heat had changed; gone was the breathless, sticky, humidity of the jungle. This was the baking sun, burning from above and reflecting off of the mud and water from below. The smell was overpowering, a foul miasma that was almost thick enough to see.

"Aggh, with a stench like this, I can't see why anything would want to live in these ruins." Kaelin said.

"I wonder how the Mentor gets his initiates to come out here," Toran wondered out loud, "probably has to threaten them with damnation if they don't."

As they neared the large structure, Kaelin stopped. "We should do this like we did before. I'll sneak in and see what I can see and you wait out here and come in if I need you."

"Sounds alright, but risky for you." Toran replied.

In response, Kaelin just smiled and began moving toward the entrance to the temple. He drew the ample shadows around himself, helping hide him from view. Although the walls were crumbling or even completely gone in some places, Kaelin still chose to enter through the doorway. The massive double doors, little more than slabs of stone with a patina of what was probably once metal on them, stood before Kaelin. One leaned against the wall, as if it had come off after being thrown wide. The second was in three large pieces on the floor.

Careful to avoid making any sound, Kaelin first let his sight recover form the glare outside and searched around the doorway. Clever monsters might rig traps. He found none but noticed a number of muddy tracks leading in and out. While the tracks were very much more mud than an impression of a foot, Kaelin did get the idea that whatever had made them was about man sized judging from the size of the mud trails and the distance between steps.

Slipping inside it was noticeably cooler once out of the sun. Not cold by any stretch, but at least a little more pleasant. The inside was much like the outside, crumbling stone, choked in a few struggling plants. The roof was mostly intact excepting a few largish holes. Debris littered the floors. Water dripped in the background but aside from that it was quiet.

Moving to look into some of the bigger sections was when Kaelin saw one of the things. A hideous, toad like creature, grown to Human size and walking on its hind legs. It did so now, moving toward the Kaelin and the entrance, its bulging eyes seeming to be looking right at Kaelin as he crouched near the ruins of an internal wall.

As the foul creature had walked past Kaelin, the assassin thought he might yet remain unseen but it suddenly turned its head. "Crooaaakkk!" It roared and immediately sprung at him with a very frog-like hop.

"Help!" Kaelin shouted quickly and hoped that his friends outside could hear him. He couldn't help but notice that another of these toad creatures had also seen him and was advancing. Kaelin did manage to block the first strike aimed at him, but had no opportunity to use his darker powers.

As the second of the creatures attacked him, Torin ran through the doorway and charged. The beast man took the first one by surprise, and killed it with a single, massive blow to its misshapen head.

Kaelin began to feel better about his chances but soon changed his mind as more of the creatures seemed to appear from every corner of the ruined temple. Two of the newcomers threw javelins at them causing both of them to dodge frantically in order to avoid being hit.

When Xanthia came through the door with Aramil, he instantly recognized the creatures as Bullywugs. Foul creatures that would have been seen as one of nature's greatest mistakes but for the fact that the race had been created not by the gods, but the lesser primordials; the purpose of which was never known. He instantly drew a fireseed from his pouch and threw it at one of the spear throwers. His attack missed but spoiled their aims by forcing them to move lest they be caught in the swift gout of fire.

Aramil ran to assist the Toran and Aramil, who were being mobbed by four of the creatures. Kaelin in particular was hard pressed, but managed a quick stab with his short sword that caught one of the things in the eye. It thrashed violently and the sword, the focus of his power, was about to be wrenched from his hands when Aramil's voice came, "Kaelin didn't drop his sword as his reflexes were far to sharp for that." Indeed, Kaelin found that he could just manage to retain his grip.

Torin was pounding on the staff that one of the things carried, forcing it back, when it opened its massive maw and released disgusting fumes that forced the beast man back with nausea. It then renewed its own attack Xanthia tried to move in to help, but another volley of javelins kept him back.

"We've got to get those javelin throwers!" Kaelin yelled to Torin. They were side by side, fighting three of the things while Aramil jumped in when he had the opportunity, stabbing with quick, piercing strikes of his slim sword.

"Agreed." Torin said, and abruptly charged the javelin throwers who had stayed near a large supply of the roughly made missiles. He took one strike, just below the shoulder which caused a painful wound, while another glanced off his leg. Kaelin moved with him finally able to use his shadow powers now that he wasn't pressed by an attack. Wasting no time, he sent this dark energy into one of the javelineers, immediately beginning to strangle him.

Toran's charge slammed fully into the second one, knocking it to the ground. Several follow up strikes to finished the creature.

However, with Toran and Kaelin gone, the remaining three confronted Aramil, with Xanthia just behind him. A quick spell from Xanthia somewhat evened the odds as a blast of frozen air came forth from his hands, catching the lead Bullywug so that it collapsed, frozen into a solid mass to the ground. The other two, also caught by this blast and stood unmoving for a moment.

Xanthia nodded with satisfaction and looked to Aramil. "You see a . . ." At that moment, the two Bullywugs burst back into action and lunged at the druid. Aramil, in a split second, knew what he had to do. He dived, in one fluid motion, uttering a single word. "Sacrifice!"

Both of the Bullywug's blows struck him, one brutal thrust hit him just below the neck, the other in the pit of the stomach. The enemy spears with their wicked, if primitive points pierced the Eladrin deeply. He fell to the ground and lay motionless.

"What!" Xanthia saw, just too late what had happened and instantly the beast took over. He became the shadow wolf and launched himself at one of the creatures which was desperately trying to remove his spear from Aramil. Xanthia's teeth sank into the creature's flesh and he bore it down, worrying and rending.

The second Bullywug, not wishing to suffer the same fate, brought its spear up. About to plunge it into the shadow wolf's side, his own shadow suddenly moved and pierced his eyes with dark claws. He screamed as Kaelin directed the shadow to continue its evil work.

As soon as Xanthia's prey was dead, he reverted back to his normal form and despite being covered in black, Bullywug blood, he looked down to Aramil. The wounds were serious and bleeding profusely. Taking off his pack, he found some bandages, old cloth that was clean and kept for this purpose. To Kaelin he said, "quickly, hold this here and here. Do it!"

Kaelin bent to assist him as Xanthia tried desperately to save the Aramil's life. He called upon the spirits of nature and, although they were faint in the building so defiled by the Bullywugs, their presence was there and answered him.

Toran moved angrily between the fallen enemies and made certain that they were dead. Kaelin, once Xanthia angrily dismissed him, began searching among the bodies and the ruin. There was little to be found of any value, the Bullywug's weapons were simple and not really of any worth; as likely as not to break when used. Where there may have been some ancient artifacts under the mud he saw that they would be difficult to find and he wasn't sure that he could recognize what was valuable and what wasn't.

Finally Xanthia sat back and sighed. "He will most likely live. But his body will need to spend some time healing and we will need to carry him back to Chassel."

Toran nodded, "very well. We shall make a stretcher to carry him. Kaelin, head outside and get the priest. He should be able to help us, certainly . . ."

The beast man was interrupted as Mentor Elentor came rushing into the building. "Thank blessed Ioun. There are more of them coming this way. I think they saw me!"

Despite being weary, Toran immediately ran to the door and looked outside. In the distance he could indeed see more of the frog-like creatures moving quickly toward the ruins. Two of them seemed to be burdened with something but he couldn't make out more at this distance. Xanthia said to the Mentor, "stay with Aramil," before he too went to the doorway. Kaelin skulked amid a ruined section of wall.

The Bullywugs suddenly stopped and seemed to have some sort of conference for a few moments. When they resumed, they were more cautious and clearly in some sort of battle formation. It could now be seen that there were six of them, ready for combat and clearly expecting trouble in the ruins of the temple. They sounded several loud croaks, probably hoping for some similar response from their companions insid,e but none of the group thought that they could believably imitate those sounds. Kaelin briefly considered changing his appearance to one of those killed, but he was at a loss to what he would do afterwards. He couldn't speak any language that they might know, so it would likely only prove a minor distraction to a force that was truly ready to fight. Wearily he resigned himself to another battle and summoned again his connection to the shadow realm.

The approaching group saw Toran and focussed on him. At about fifty feet away one of the creatures in the back suddenly opened its frog-like maw wide and sent forth a thick gob of slimy phlegm. Some of it hit Toran on the rigid leather covering his chest, which immediately began smoking as it started eatiung its way through. While the smoke reeked of acid, the phlegm itself smelled far worse and actually drove the mighty beast man to his knees, even Xanthia, standing a few feet behind was affected.

This attack sent the rest charging forward. Kaelin, who had been focussing his will on one of the creatures and created a shadow noose which killed it with a single pull. This gained the attention of two nearby, who changed course and ran toward the assassin. Xanthia threw a fireseed which erupted, killing the one that it hit and caught its companion in some of the flame burst.

Thus, only one remained to charge Toran, who blocked its strike with the haft of his axe. For a moment the two engaged in a battle of strength. Toran said through clenched teeth to Xanthia, "go and help Kaelin." Aramil's near fatal wounding had disturbed the beast man a great deal and he didn't wish to lose another member of his group.

Just as he managed to push off the Bullywug who had charged him, the spitter croaked forth another stinking gob of phlegm catching both combatants. The poisonous acidity hurt Toran where it struck his leg just above the knee. His only comfort was that it seemed to hurt the other Bullywug just as badly.

Kaelin had hoped that the rubble of the wall might have stopped or at least slowed any attack from outside, but the two that charged him simply leapt over it. One swung its large sword at him, which forced him back against the wall to his side, barely dodging a blow that could have cut him in half. The second one, was just about to attack from the side when Xanthia's fireseed erupted on top of it, catching the first one as well in the flames. Both Xanthia and Kaelin were surprised and dismayed though as both Bullywugs emerged burnt but still in the fight.

Wasting no time, the Bullywug Xanthia had struck immediately leapt at the druid and only missed a swing with its sword because its body knocked Xanthia to the ground. The toad-creature's second swing, while poorly aimed, did manage to clip Xanthia's forepaw just as he changed shape into the shadow wolf. The third swing of its sword took off a section of his tail as he ran toward the door.

Caught in a corner between the rubble of one wall and a whole one, Kaelin had little chance to dodge a wicked stab from the one that had him cornered. With a bare second to spare, the assassin summoned all of his shadow power and seemed to melt into the darkness itself. The blade of the Bullywug struck sparks off of the stone with the power of its thrust. Shadows congealed behind it and suddenly Kaelin was there striking with his short sword as it still trailed shadow energy. The Bullywug gave a peculiar croaking squeal and fell forward, twisting and thrashing but Kaelin stayed with it, raining blow after blow with his short sword. He did suffer one particularly nasty gash on his shoulder, but before long his opponent lay dead on the muddy floor.

Toran, who had been fighting two of the foul, frog creatures, had suffered several minor cuts and acid burns but was still going strong. His direct opponent was in much worse condition and clearly tiring, his sword came up more slowly every time to meet Toran's axe. The far greater threat was the one that spewed continuos foul streams of burning, stinking bile.

When Xanthia ran past Toran's knees, he barely turned as he swang his axe strongly at the gap between the doors. His timing was perfect, catching the Bullywug pursuing the druid in the head, felling him in an instant. His return swing was quick enough to block a low blow from his rapidly weakening adversary. Xanthia continued moving to an open area where he changed back to his humanoid form and began focussing his will on the spitting Bullywug. He called to the insects and small creatures, as he had before with the Eladrin in the bandit camp.

However, the Bullywug seemed to sense his intent. It swallowed the next gob he was about to bring up and charged Xanthia, swinging a large mace it carried in both hands. The blow caught the druid in the midsection with an impact that sounded like a clap of thunder. It lifted Xanthia off of his feet and flung him painfully into a pillar ten feet behind. The Beast Man could taste blood in his mouth and knew that he must have suffered, at very least, some broken ribs.

The Bullywug held his mace high with triumph as he advanced on Xanthia. Toran was behind him before he could strike, swinging his axe in wide arc forcing the creature to desperately block three strikes in quick succession. Then, its own shadow rose up against it. None could tell who struck the fatal blow on the last of the Bullywugs, either Toran's axe or the shadows brought out by Kaelin's power, it mattered little.

In the relative silence that followed, Toran helped Xanthia back into the temple where Mentor Elentor stated that he had preformed further healing on Aramil. "Please, sit here for a moment," he said to the others before conveying a blessing of healing. All three had suffered wounds during the battle and in the glow of Ioun's magic, channeled through his priest, the pain and severity of these wounds lessened.


End file.
